Are you despicable or brilliant, lowbrow or highbrow? New York Magazine sorts out culture with a 2x2 ‘Approval Matrix’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On December 22, 2023 I blogged about the serious topic of How to evaluate evidence better by using a 2x2 grid. But a grid also can have a humorous purpose – cultural commentary. Since November 2004 the back page of New York Magazine has contained an Approval Matrix like the simplified one shown above (made with PowerPoint). One on December 15, 2023 by Dominique Pariso and Chris Stanton is an article titled Tommy Cutlets and the Disgruntled Oompa-Loompas.

 

Another article by Myles Tanzer at BuzzfeedNews on August 13, 2014 described How New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix went from the back page to TV. A second article by Sarah Zhang at Mother Jones on June 4, 2013 said it really is a chart - REVEALED: New York Mag’s Beloved “Approval Matrix” Is a Fraud. And a third article by Laura Hazard Own at Nieman Lab on January 27, 2022 titled “Lowbrow despicable”: New York Magazine’s Approval Matrix gets a … competitor told how it was copied by the Prospect Grid.

 

Of course, despicable is part of Daffy Duck’s catchphrase, which usually is slurred as:

“Youuu're deththpicable!"

 

 

A definately different humorous approach to vocabulary and spelling from xkcd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The December 22, 2023 xkcd web comic claims that rather than just definitely there is a spectrum of a dozen words expressing various degrees of definiteness, as is shown above. The orthodox view in an article from Proofed on March 6, 2022 titled Spelling Tips: Definitely or Definately? instead is:

“It’s easy to misspell ‘definitely’ as ‘definately’ because the word isn’t pronounced exactly as it’s spelled. The second ‘I’ sounds like ‘uh’ when it’s spoken, so people often wrongly assume that the vowel after the ‘n’ should be an ‘a.’ After all, that’s how we spell a lot of other words with the same sound, such as immediately, accurately, and approximately.

However, if you remove the suffix ‘ly’ from those words, you’re left with the correctly spelled immediate, accurate, and approximate. But you won’t find definate in the dictionary!”

 

MAY THEY ROT IN HELL doesn’t belong in a Christmas message!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But Donald J. Trump put it near the end in one of his three social media messages. The full text is:

 

“Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against ‘TRUMP’ and ‘MAGA.’ Included also are World Leaders, both good and bad, but none of which are as evil and ‘sick’ as the THUGS we have inside our Country who, with their Open Borders, INFLATION, Afghanistan Surrender, Green New Scam, High Taxes, No Energy Independence, Woke Military, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Iran, All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

 

An article by Jason Shamsian at Business Insider on December 25, 2023 is titled Trump wishes electric car supporters ‘rot in hell’ in Truth Social Christmas message. The  Donald also had a second one and a third one. We had expected frankincense, not Frankenstein.    

 

Finding new niches to blog or speak about

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am over seventy years old, and have been writing this blog for more than fifteen years. But I still haven’t run out of topics to write or speak about.

 

I can always take a wider view - look beyond where I have been previously. For example, on December 15, 2023 I blogged about Warming up by speaking through a straw: semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE). That post was inspired by a Reader’s Digest article I blogged about the previous day, in another post titled To nail your next speech, follow these eight tips. And that article showed up on my Google alert for the phrase ‘public speaking’.

 

Back on October 18, 2022 I blogged about Tips for taking care of your voice. That got me thinking about hoarseness, which I blogged about on September 20, 2023 in a post titled Recent and definitive advice on preventing hoarseness (dysphonia). That post became my theme when I served as Toastmaster for the October 25, 2023 meeting of the Pioneer Club in Boise.  

 

The PowerPoint cartoon was derived from a Pearson Scott Foresman (PSF) drawing of a niche at Wikimedia Commons.  

 

How to evaluate evidence better by using a 2x2 Possibility Grid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A graphic like a 2x2 chart can help us see a topic. On November 13, 2023 I blogged about how A Certainty-Control Confidence Map is an excellent graphic for discussing decision-making.

 

I saw an article by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris at BehavioralScientist on July 17, 2023 titled How the Possibility Grid Helps You Evaluate Evidence Better. They used an example about picking stocks shown above via a Possibility Grid. The example really is about The Motley Fool and comes from another article by David Hanson at USA TODAY on March 12, 2018 titled 5 years from now, you’ll probably wish you grabbed these stocks. You probably will have focused just on cases (shown in green) when some winners were picked. A more complete evaluation also would include losers picked, and also those not picked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another colored version illustrates the questions we should ask to quantify the ability to consistently pick stocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simons and Chabris discuss the Possibility Grid (with a different psychic prediction example) on page 34 of their 2023 book titled Nobody’s Fool: Why we get taken in and what we can do about it. They didn’t illustrate it, so I did, as is shown above. I got that that book from my friendly local public library and enjoyed reading it. The book is divided in two parts, each with four chapters (followed by a conclusion):

 

PART 1: HABITS

Chapter 1: Focus – Think about what’s missing.

Chapter 2: Prediction – Expect to be surprised.

Chapter 3:  Commitment – Be careful when you assume.

Chapter 4: Efficiency – Ask more questions

 

PART 2: HOOKS

Chapter 5: Consistency – Appreciate the value of noise.

Chapter 6: Familiarity – Discount what you think you know.

Chapter 7: Precision – Take appropriate measures.

Chapter 8: Potency – Be wary of “butterfly effects.”

 

Pages 28 to 30 in Chapter 1 describe another example about what is missing. They also discussed it in an article at Nautilus on July 13, 2023 titled This WWII Story Made Us Better Thinkers.

 

Getting better at speechwriting by learning from professional organizations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw an interesting post by Dr. Jim Anderson on December 12, 2023 at his blog The Accidental Communicator titled How to Get Better at Writing Speeches. First, he suggested that you follow organizations of professional speechwriters, and mentioned the National Association of Professional Speechwriters, the U. K. Speechwriters Guild, and the European Speechwriter Network. Second, he suggested reading articles and tips both at Ragan Communications and Vital Speeches of the Day magazine. There are other speechwriter groups you might belong to as well.

National Association of Professional Speechwriters

This just is a LinkedIn group with only ~120 members. It was created back in January 2012.

 

U. K. Speechwriters Guild

 This group was started by Brian Jenner with a conference in September 2009. They have a blog, which sometimes is an E-Newsletter.   

 

European Speechwriter Network

This group also was started by Brian Jenner. I blogged about him in a post on May 30, 2023 titled Are there blogs written by professional speechwriters? They have or had a newsletter until 2019, and about ten issues can be found on the pay site Scribd.

 

Professional Speechwriters Association (PSA)

 Jim didn’t mention this association, which began in 2013. There is an article about its founder, David Murray (who also edits Vital Speeches of the Day magazine), by Mary Nesfield in the June 2015 Toastmaster magazine on pages 12 and 13 titled The Speechwriter’s Shepherd. I have blogged about two of their 12-page whitepapers. On May 20, 2023 I posted on A practical process for writing any speech – from the Professional Speechwriters Association. And on December 8, 2023 I posted on How to Write a Great Commencement Speech.

 

Speechwriters of Color

There is an article by Terry Edmonds in the Washington Monthly about this group on June 20, 2022 titled Why We Need Speechwriters Who Look Like America.

 

Judson Welliver Society

 On April 19, 2023 I blogged about how The Judson Welliver Society is an exclusive group of former presidential speechwriters – and referred to the above article by Terry Edmonds.

 

GC [Government of Canada] Speechwriters’ Community of Practice

This is a private Facebook group with about 300 members. It is mentioned in an article by Elena Aptowitzer on June 7, 2019 titled Preparing a New Generation of Professional Speechwriters about a course given by Carleton University.

 

Ragan

Ragan publishes about communications and public relations. They hold an annual Speechwriters and Executive Communicators Conference – which inspired the U. K. Speechwriters Guild. There is an excellent article by Andrew Imbrie at Ragan on December 7, 2021 titled 10 keys to unlock speechwriting success. Those keys are to:

 

Find your why

Show, don’t tell

“Deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex”

Frame before you proclaim

Tell a story

Teamwork is essential

Take back the pen

Reflect the person, not just the voice

Turn your numbers into images

Know your audience and the room

 

The cartoon with a man working at his computer was adapted from this one at Wikimedia Commons.  

 

 

A humorous U.S. map from xkcd with 14 extra states

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes you can cunningly revise a graphic but still have it look almost normal - at first glance. The December 15, 2023 xkcd web comic version of the U.S. map shown above is a humorous example.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My relabeled version from Explain xkcd (shown above) has the 14 extra states colored in light blue. There are four Colorados and Dakotas, three Carolinas, and a pair each of Arkansass, Indianas, Nebraskas, New Hampshires, New Mexicos, Oregons, Tennessees, and Utahs.

 

59 Table Topics Questions from six lists in Karen Eber’s 2023 book The Perfect Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Club meetings of Toastmasters International have a one-to-two-minute impromptu speaking portion called Table Topics. Where can you find good questions? On December 8, 2022 I blogged about how Job interview questions about soft skills also can be used for Table Topics questions at Toastmasters club meetings.

 

There is an interesting 2023 book by Karen Eber titled The Perfect Story: How to Tell Stories That Inform, Influence, and Inspire. She has the following six lists which might be used as 59 questions for Table Topics:

 

YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES – page 62

What is a defining moment in your life?

What was a situation that didn’t start funny, but you now laugh about?

What would you do differently if you were able?

What did you learn from a vacation adventure?

What pets did you have growing up?

What is a hidden talent of yours?

Who was your favorite teacher?

What was your first concert, car, or date?

Have you had a car break down? What did you learn?

What would you save if your home was on fire?

What is the best advice you’ve received?

What is a skill or talent you mastered?

What traditions were observed in your home?

What is something you should have thrown out but can’t part with?

Ask a friend or family member:

  What is your favorite thing about me?

  What was I like as a child?

  What did you image I would do for a living?

 

YOUR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES – page 63

What was your first job?

What was a mistake or failure you learned from?

What was a difficult team or project you experienced?

What change made you afraid of losing or gaining something?

Who was your best or worst leader?

What was a moment when you thought, This is why I do this work?

What was a moment when you had no idea what you were doing?

What is something you would like to do over?

What would you tell the younger version of yourself?

What are you most proud of?

What is the best advice you’ve received?

 

LOOK AT CUSTOMERS, CLIENTS, AND STAKEHOLDERS  – page 64

What problems do your customers face? What do they complain about?

What do your clients aspire to be, do, or have in the future?

What pain points have you solved for your clients?

What do customers say they love about your product or solution? Why?

How do your clients find you?

What challenges would you find of your customers if you searched online?

What have you learned from the evolution of your product or solutions?

What are the seven principles or ideas your clients need to know?

Why did you start your products and/or services?

 

FIND A MUSE – page 64

What would make someone your ideal customer?

What problems do they struggle with?

How have you helped them, and what did they realize in the process?

Where have they had success?

What comes easily to them? Where are they looking to grow?

What aspirations do they have?

 

IN THE WORLD – page 65

What is a favorite movie or piece of art that moves you? Why?

What music can you play endlessly?

What topics can you talk about all day?

What is an outdoor space you love to visit?

Have you ever heard the origin of a product or a company that stuck with you?

Do you have a favorite museum?

Is there an article or podcast episode that stood out to you? Why?

What is your favorite city or place to visit? Why?

Do you have a favorite book?

Have you heard a speech or speaker that stayed with you?

 

PASSAGE OF TIME – page 66

Is there a conference room or building in your workplace that has witnessed different events or meetings over the years?

Do you have a stuffed animal, blanket, lucky charm, or piece of clothing that followed you ob multiple experiences?

Is there any object that has been passed down through your family?

What are objects in tour day-to-day that have evolved over the passage and time (e.g. rotary phone to mobile phone)?

What are different world events your audience witnessed over their lifetime?

What is an object that could tell multiple points of experience? For example, my hiking boots are twenty-five years old. They represent many stories of the different hikes, trips to different countries, and life events.

 

An image of a drop-leaf dining table came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Warming up by speaking through a straw: semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am not a singer, so I had not heard of semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE) – which I mentioned in my previous post. They are discussed in an undated article by Lori Ellen Sutton at OperaCarolina titled How voicing through a straw can save your vocal folds. She links to a five-minute YouTube video by Dr. Ingo Titze. There is another article by Julia Belluz at Vox on June 20, 2015 titled How blowing into a straw can save your voice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, there is another six-minute YouTube video by Jim Chandler at Rock Your Best Vocals on April 9, 2021 titled MYTH BUSTER SPECIAL: “Straw Singing” is BUTTS**T – WARNING!!! He discusses how, as shown above, you can take apart a ballpoint pen to use instead of a straw.  

 

Still another article by Stacey Menton on January 17, 2023 titled Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises has a thirteen-minute YouTube video. Yet another long article by Philippe Hall at SingingRevealed on March 2, 2023 is titled Best Vocal Exercises! Using SOVT’s Semi Occluded Vocal Tract.

 

Semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE) have been discussed in numerous magazine articles. A recent one by Adrian Castillo-Allendes, Lady Catherine Cantor-Cultiva and Eric J. Hunter in the Journal of Voice for November 2021 titled Acoustic effects of vocal warm-up: A 7-week longitudinal case study has over fifty references!

 

To nail your next speech, follow these eight tips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an interesting article by Jessica Doyle-Mekkes at the Reader’s Digest on December 8, 2023 titled Follow these 8 public speaking tips to nail your next presentation. She is the head of musical theatre at the East Carolina State University.

 

Her eight tips are to:

 

Practice, practice, practice

Breathe deeply

Record yourself [audio]

Video record yourself

Warm up your voice

Hydrate

Get steamy

Talk yourself into it

 

Under Warm up your voice she says:

 

“…My favorite vocal warm-ups are Semi Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises (SOVTEs). If you think of speaking like sitting on a swing and pumping your legs to get going, SOVTEs are like someone giving you a push. They’re great for getting your voice going in the morning, if you’re feeling under the weather and before a speaking event.

 

To do it: Grab a straw, place it in your mouth and wrap your lips around it. Then hum. Be sure all the air is going through the straw. You can hum sirens (from the bottom of your range to the top), hills (small sirens that get larger each time) or use the melody of a song. Aim for two to three minutes, five times per day.”

 

Then Jessica said to Hydrate and to Get steamy. On September 20, 2023 I blogged about Recent and definitive advice on preventing hoarseness (dysphonia). That article similarly said:

 

“Drink plenty of water, especially in dry areas

and to Humidify your home”

 

An image of a hammer from Wikimedia Commons was colored in.

 

A sesame seed bagel is like a national survey with a random sample

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sampling is an important statistical part of conducting a survey statistically. I was looking for an analogy (simile or metaphor) to explain a national survey with a random sample. As shown above, it is like a sesame seed bagel. Each seed can represent an individual in the sample. They are spread over the entire surface of the bagel, which represents the nation. After time passes the survey gets stale.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, as shown above, there is a margin of error associated with sampling. For a margin of plus or minus three percent a sample size of 1,067 is needed.

 

How about a nonrandom sample? Statistical jargon calls this a convenience sample, for which the Wikipedia page says:    

 

“Convenience sampling (also known as grab sampling, accidental sampling, or opportunity sampling) is a type of non-probability sampling that involves the sample being drawn from that part of the population that is close to hand.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Often that convenient survey sample consists of university students in introductory public speaking or psychology classes at a single university. As shown above, it is like a bagel with just a single pecan. Results from such a sample do not represent a nation.

 

Back on December 20, 2016 I blogged about Bursting the overblown claim that 95% of Americans fear public speaking at some level. A comment on that post by Michelle Mazur warned:

 

“McCroskey & Richmond's research was all based on convenience sampling of undergrads at West Virginia University. To say that is generalizable to the greater population defies all logic and good research practices. Public polling actually uses randomized sampling that is representative of the population. …”

 

The image for margin of error was colored in from this one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

Mitt Romney says Donald Trump is a human gumball machine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In part of an interview on Meet the Press shown onYouTube Mitt Romney said this about Donald Trump:

 

“You know, when I was a kid there was something called a gumball machine. You could put a penny in, and a gumball would come out. It was automatic. There was no filter. Put in the penny, out came the gumball. Donald Trump is kind of a human gumball machine, which is a thought or a notion comes in and it comes out of his mouth. There’s not a lot of filter that goes on. There’s not a lot of what’s the implication. No, he just says whatever. I don’t attach an enormous amount of impact to the particular words that come out and try and evaluate each one of them. I do think you can look at his record as president and particularly in the last month of his presidency and say this is a dangerous approach, it’s an authoritarian approach. That gives me far more concern than him playing to the crowd as he did.”    

 

The story also was reported on December 10, 2023 by Sarah Fortinsky at The Hill in an article titled Romney compares Trump’s ‘dictator’ remark to ‘human gumball machine’ and another article by Kelly Garrity at Politico titled Trump the ‘human gumball machine’ will ‘impose his will’ on the nation if elected, Romney says.

 

The gumball machine cartoon came from Openclipart.

 

Did Idaho’s education freedom have a losing streak?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No! At the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) on December 7, 2023 there is an article by Ronald M. Nate mistitled Losing Streak – Idaho Education Freedom. It’s not really a losing streak. As shown above in a table from the IFF article, for the five categories in the Heritage Foundation’s Education Freedom Report Card, Idaho ranked first in Return on Investment (both this and last year). This year we were ranked in the Top Ten in two categories, the Top Twenty in three categories, and the Top Thirty in all five categories.

 

But it makes more sense to also list where we ranked relative to our six neighboring states of Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. As shown below, we ranked first in Return on Investment (#1), second on Transparency (#8) and Overall (#11), third on Teacher Freedom (#23), and fourth on Education Choice (#29). That's not bad! 

 

Return on Investment

State                Rank               

Idaho               #1 (same as last year)

Utah                #2       

Nevada            #3       

Washington     #8                               

Montana         #26                 

Oregon            #39                  -

Wyoming         #41     

 

Transparency

State                Rank

Montana         #6

Idaho               #8                               

Utah                #9       

Nevada            #19                 

Wyoming         #23                 

Oregon            #25                             

Washington     #36     

 

Overall

State                Rank

Utah                #3       

Idaho               #11     

Montana         #17                             

Nevada            #23                 

Wyoming         #34                 

Washington     #43                 

Oregon            #51                  

 

Teacher Freedom

State                Rank               

Wyoming         #15 (tie)         

Utah                #19     

Idaho               #23                 

Montana         #37                 

Nevada            #42                 

Washington     #49                 

Oregon            #51                             

 

Education Choice

State                Rank               

Utah                #8

Montana         #10

Nevada            #24     

Idaho               #29

Wyoming         #44                 

Oregon            #46                 

Washington     #47                 

           

The Idaho Freedom Foundation has an axe to grind with education, as I blogged about on February 24, 2019 in a post titled A radical dismissal of our state public education system.

 

How to Write a Great Commencement Speech

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an excellent whitepaper from January 10, 2018 by Aaron Hoover at the Professional Speechwriters Association (PSA) titled How to Write a Great Commencement Speech (and Why You Must). You can download the 12-page .pdf file here. Mr. Hoover discusses how these speeches share five common characteristics:

 

Impart personal wisdom based on a candid account of life experiences

Relay a simple, socially sharable message

Consider the present times

Advise and inspire through example rather than exhortation

Convey joy, fun and celebration.

 

There are five boxes with lists of tips, and at the end he has lists of dos and don’ts. Under further resources there are links to some great speeches.

 

Back on June 29, 2016 I blogged about Commencement speeches and big questions. This year I blogged about two speeches, August 4, 2023 on Quotations from Vital Speeches of the Day: #3 Marcus Fila on playing the long game, and September 17, 2023 on Quotations from Vital Speeches of the Day: #5 – John McEnroe on how This is the Time to Take Your Shots.

 

There is a May 15, 2019 press release titled Toastmasters International Lists 5 Memorable Commencement Speeches in the Last 5 Years.  

 

An image of the 1991 commencement at the University of Michigan - Dearborn came from the Library of Congress.

 

Two cartoons today are related to speech titles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The December 6, 2023 F Minus cartoon by Tony Carrillo shows what might be a TED Talk speaker proclaiming:

 

“Hello, and welcome to my megahit sold-out lecture,

  ‘Everyone Who Disagrees with You Is a Liar or a Fool’.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the December 6, 2023 Pearls Before Swine cartoon by Stephan Pastis has the following four frames:

 

Rat: [Sitting behind the counter with a sign advertising Good Advice for Losers]

Goat: Do you honestly expect to attract customers with a sign like that?

Rat: [rewrites the sign]

Rat: [Sitting behind the counter with a sign now saying Great Advice for Losers]

 

A superlative like great always is better than merely saying good.

 

The cartoon man was modified from this image at Wikimedia Commons.